It’s time for a political demonstration over lawmakers voting the way the National Rifle Association wants just because they are beholden to them. Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are living proof that something must be done about preventing terrorists from getting guns in their hands. I say President Obama needs to make the lives of the Democratic senators who voted against gun control amendments a living hell. I would also throw New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the mix. These senators thumbed their noses at the wishes of 90 percent of Americans. I must say that I am very disappointed in President Obama. He wasn’t tough enough on these Democrats.

Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Max Baucus of Montanta and Mark Begich of Alaska are facing reelection in 2014. It’s time to send them home. Sorry. The Democrats deserve to lose their majority in the Senate. To echo Joe Scarborough, President Obama must take a stand and say, “I am going to make your life a living and breathing hell if you don’t help me take guns out of the wrong hands.” President should also make it clear that any bill Sen. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp manages to send to his desk will be vetoed. I never thought I would say this, but George W. Bush has more guts than President Obama. Whether he was wrong or right, he stood firm and talked tough.

Let’s not forget that Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell have no vested interest in working with President Obama. They made that very clear in the past. This time wouldn’t have been any different. Forty-one Republicans blocked the Toomey-Manchin bipartisan bill because they hate President Obama. From the way it looks, the Republicans fear Wayne LaPierre and the NRA than they do the president. Whatever. But the Democrats also squandered their opportunity to get this bill passed.

Left-leaning New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd opines that President Obama doesn’t know how to govern. I am of the opinion that he really doesn’t know how to play the game in Washington D.C.

How is it that the president won the argument on gun safety with the public and lost the vote in the Senate? It’s because he doesn’t know how to work the system. And it’s clear now that he doesn’t want to learn, or to even hire some clever people who can tell him how to do it or do it for him.

It’s unbelievable that with 90 percent of Americans on his side, he could get only 54 votes in the Senate. It was a glaring example of his weakness in using leverage to get what he wants. No one on Capitol Hill is scared of him.

Even House Republicans who had no intention of voting for the gun bill marveled privately that the president could not muster 60 votes in a Senate that his party controls.

President Obama thinks he can use emotion to bring pressure on Congress. But that’s not how adults with power respond to things. He chooses not to get down in the weeds and pretend he values the stroking and other little things that matter to lawmakers. Source

Bill Daley makes a great argument against Heidi Heitkamp, who claims she voted against the amendments based on what her constituents wanted.

I want my money back.Last October, I gave $2,500 to support Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign to become North Dakota’s junior senator. A few weeks later, she won a surprise victory.

I have had a long career in government and politics, but I don’t donate heavily to political campaigns. When I contribute, it’s because I know the candidate well or am really impressed with the person. Heidi Heitkamp was one of the latter: She struck me as strong-willed, principled and an independent thinker.

But this week, Heitkamp betrayed those hopes. …

Polling has shown that nine in 10 Americans and eight in 10 gun owners support a law to require every buyer to go through a background check on every gun sale. In North Dakota, the support was even higher: 94 percent. Yet in explaining her vote, Heitkamp had the gall to say that she “heard overwhelmingly from the people of North Dakota” and had to listen to them and vote no. It seems more likely that she heard from the gun lobby and chose to listen to it instead.

It’s not too late for President Obama to get background check amendments passed. President Obama has to stand firm and make the lives of those Democrats who voted in favor of the NRA a living hell. The Democrats continue to squander their majority year after year. There are many ways to do that in Washington D.C. For starters, it’s time to send Max Baucus, Mark Pryor and Mark Begich home. President Obama isn’t the only one accountable to American voters. These lawmakers are too.